DURHAM paceman Steve Harmison has been urged by the England hierarchy to bowl himself into the reckoning for a central contract.

DURHAM paceman Steve Harmison has been urged by the England hierarchy to bowl himself into the reckoning for a central contract.

Despite being ruled out of the second Test against Bangladesh after suffering a recurrence of a back problem, Harmison has been the talk of the tour since England arrived three weeks ago.

He was unable to play a full part in yesterday morning's practice at the Chittagong Stadium having aggravated the problem during England's four-hour journey from Dhaka on Monday.

But he has already underlined his development at this level by claiming Test-best match figures of nine for 79 in the seven-wicket first Test victory in Dhaka.

That haul took his tally to 31 Test victims in only eight Tests this year, while he has played in 12 of the last 13 Tests since fellow paceman Simon Jones was stretchered off the Gabba outfield with a cruciate ligament injury at the start of the Ashes series last November.

But despite Harmison's impressive record over the last 12 months, and captain Michael Vaughan predicting great things for him prior to the start of this series, the selectors decided against awarding him a central contract worth around &#xA3;150,000.

Even before his match-winning efforts at the National Stadium, Harmison had admitted he did not feel like an integral member of the England line-up, claiming, "I don't look at myself as an established member of the team and part of the reason for that is not being awarded a central contract."

However, John Carr, the England and Wales Cricket Board's Director of Cricket Operations, sought to reassure Harmison that there were great rewards to be had if he continued to improve.

"We're not saying that anyone who has not got a 12-month contract is not going to play a significant part in the 12 months ahead," he said.

"Steve Harmison bowled magnificently in the last Test and Matthew Hoggard bowled very well."